OLD G Gundam 1/100 Master Gundam

Release 1994.8

Price ¥1,500

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

OLD 1/100 Master Gundam - Box side view (1/3)

Box side view

Runners

OLD 1/100 Master Gundam - Parts diagram (1/4)

OLD 1/100 Master Gundam - Parts diagram (2/4)

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

OLD 1/100 Master Gundam - The large stabilizers on the back touch the ground and double as a support stand. (1/3)

The large stabilizers on the back touch the ground and double as a support stand.

There's a gimmick where the forearm extends to recreate the Near Crusher.

Wire parts for recreating the Distant Crusher

Limb articulation. The hip joint has a very limited range of motion.

The large stabilizers deploy in three stages.

Normal mode, looking like it's wrapped in a cloak.

Near Crusher action.

OLD 1/100 Master Gundam - Distant Crusher action. The wire doesn't have enough rigidity to hold a fully extended pose for dis

Distant Crusher action. The wire doesn't have enough rigidity to hold a fully extended pose for display.

Together with the 1/144 Master Gundam.

Together with the 1/100 Shining Gundam.

Together with the MG Master Gundam released in 2002.

This is the 1/100 Master Gundam released as part of the old-release G Gundam series. First off, it's a kit with a strong visual presence thanks to its stocky proportions and those massive large stabilizers. Even without any system inserts or injection gimmicks — just straightforward parts separation and stickers — it still manages to pull off the intended color scheme pretty well.

What's impressive is that the joint strength throughout the kit is solid, matching its sturdy appearance, and the large stabilizers that deploy in three stages like a cloak hold their position well too. That said, the front skirt is fixed in place, which severely limits the hip joint's range of motion and restricts the poses you can pull off — that's a bit of a shame.

Feature-wise, you can deploy the large stabilizers to wrap around the whole body for Normal Mode, and the Near Crusher forearm extension is done as a working gimmick. A separate wire is also included so you can recreate the Distant Crusher with the forearm launching out — but the wire doesn't have much rigidity and tends to droop downward. To properly hold the launch pose, you'd probably need a separate stand to prop the forearm up.

Also, the seals have oddly weak adhesion and keep lifting or falling off — though it's hard to say whether that's just because the kit is old or if it was always like that.

So it's a kit with clear strengths and weaknesses. One notable selling point is that the large stabilizers are actually bigger and more imposing than those on the MG Master Gundam released in 2002. It's got its shortcomings for sure, but as an old-release kit, it still delivers enough visual presence to be worth it as a display piece. :-)
[ Updated at 2018.2.8 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.